Recently in Florida Category

The Great Invisible is a documentary about the negligence that resulted in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2014. Margaret Brown, who grew up in the Gulf area, was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the South by Southwest Documentary Feature Competition for her work on the film.

For me, I reached the last day of high school and still didn't know what kind of career I should pursue. I thought I'd work a bit and take classes until it became more apparrent. Eventually, for better or worse, I sorted it out and found some semblance of a trajectory in my life.

Katie Damien is one of those people that always knew what she wanted to do. What a luxury that must have been to know exactly the field of work that was right for you. By the way she had made this decision before she was even a teenager. So when the time came, she applied for film school at the University of Central Florida. No backup plans. No other school choices. The film program at UCF is where she intended to be, period.

After completing her studies and working in the Florida market Katie decided it was time to see the world. How do you do that? Her way was to work, under contract, in broadcasting on cruise ships. It agreed with her and she spent several years sailing the sea and earning her keep.

"And if you've surrounded yourself with a really good team, when everything clicks and everyone can set their egos aside, it's like magic."

During this time, when she was doing these tours aboard ship, her parents had moved from Florida to Asheville, North Carolina. Not really needing a house or apartment since she was away so much of the time she started calling Asheville her home base and stayed with her parents when not aboard ship. After the cruise contracts ended she took up permanent residence in Ahseville. Which leads us to her soon to be released feature length film.

The seed from which My Toxic Backyard unfolded came from her attempt to buy a house in Asheville. A rather continental city skirted by the Pisgah National Forest. Progressive, with a touch of the old and new, it receives people from all over the world to see the sites and to enjoy the fresh mountain air. It does have a dirty little secret though, as Katie discovered.

Jackson Ross is equally at home on screen or in the theatre, having taken to the stage in plays such as Midsummer Night's Dream, and Oedipus Rex. A busy man, he has worn may hats such as film producer, director, writer, as well as being an actor. In some of the films he's involved in, Jackson often plays the cop or wiseguy but he also likes roles that challenge his range.Originally from Kinston, North Carolina he wound up in Miami via Minnesota. In Minneapolis he had his first brush with movies while working as an extra in Drop Dead Gorgeous. That's when he first became interested in film. While still in Minnesota Jackson produced films of both stage plays and screenplays. He also met his wife Karuna Sun when she auditioned for a film he was working on.From Minneapolis they headed to Miami where Karuna was urged to come for modeling work. Jackson's first job in Florida was playing a Russian thug in Burn Notice. Ready to go anywhere he's looking to come back to North Carolina for some of the productions springing up in the area. Here is a conversation with Jackson about where acting has taken him.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem is looking for highly trained classical dancers. Audition dates are set for San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, and New York. You may also audition by sending in an audition video.

America's Got Talent is searching for entertainers for the next season of their hit show. If you have an act worthy of Las Vegas then now's your chance! Pre-registration is underway and casting calls are scheduled for the following cities.

Madonna, the original Material Girl, and her daughter Lola Leon are searching for a spokesperson/model for their Material Girl clothing line. There will be open casting calls in New York City, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Unable to attend? You can also submit your information online, along with photos.

Carolyn Wonderland is currently on tour and will be passing through the southeast next week. If you like barrelhouse rock&roll and gritty Janis Joplin style blues vocals you'll not want to miss her show.

Check out her interview with Larry Gross of Mountain Stage at the end of this article to get and idea of how this lady whips out a song.

A extras casting call for Parker, a film starring Jennifer Lopez, Jason Statham, and Nick Nolte. Shooting will begin on Wednesday, September 28th in Sarasota Florida and they need 200+ extras.

The setting for the film will be Palm Beach and they need people to play high end wealthy types. Scenes will be of a fundraising event for the very wealthy and will be shot at Ringling Museum's Ca d'Zan mansion in Sarasota.

The 2011 Clearwater Film & Music Festival will get under way this weekend in Clearwater,Florida. The festival opens on Thursday with the Opening Night Show and After Party at Jimmy's Fish House for tickets purchased at the Producer level.

Screenings will be in the Duval Ballroom and Conference Center at the Holiday Inn Clearwater. Filmmakers will be in attendance for some of the films and will be available to answer questions after the screening of the film block their film was in.

Tickets purchased at the Associate Producer level get you on the Dolphin Cruise Party Boat along with festival goers at the Producer level. If you don't care about parties or cruises you can purchase at the Director level which will get you into the movies and panels. If you just want to see a particular movie you can purchase tickets in advance or at the door for a single movie but be sure to get there early, first come, first seated.

Worst Cooks in America, a Food Network production, is looking for just that, the worst cooks in America. The recruits will divide up between Bobby Flay and Anne Burrell into two teams that will compete as they transform from bad cooks to champions of the dinner table. The prize is $25,000.

Here's the catch. You must be nominated by friends or family members and they must accompany you to the audition.

Auditions for Nana's Naughty Knickers will be held this weekend in Orange Park, Florida at the Orange Park Community Theatre. The play will be performed from October 28th through November 19th. A two act comedy by Katherine DiSavino.

Auditions are open for A Christmas Store - The Musical. A story of a boy who wants a BB gun fro Christmas and it's all he can think about.

Based on the humorist Jean Shepherd's novel "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash," this is a Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas.

Wanted are boys and girls ages 8 - 14 that can sing, dance, and act.

This is a touring show beginning in Chicago, Illinois; then Hershey, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; Raleigh, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida and then returning to Chicago..

HGTV is casting for their 7th season of Design Star, a reality series where design experts such as architects, interior designers, contractors, stylists, artists, etc... compete to show the judges they are the most creative and have the best persona to host their own series on HGTV.

The Voice, an NBC talent competition series for singers, is auditioning for next season. Auditions can be performed live throughout the country at the venues listed below or you can submit an audition video. They are looking for solo and duo acts that perform in most of the popular genres such as pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B, alternative, blues, country, indie, latin,etc...